Observations Using Mean Math Games

In this series of games, your students will learn to informally assess the degree of visual overlap of two numerical data distributions with similar variabilities. The Observations Using Mean learning objective — based on CCSS and state standards — delivers improved student engagement and academic performance in your classroom, as demonstrated by research. This learning objective directly references 7.SP.B.3 as written in the common core national math standards.

Scroll down for a preview of this learning objective’s games and the concepts.

Concepts Covered

If all measurements in a population are known, no sampling is necessary and data comparisons involve the calculated measures of center. Use visual comparisons to make conjectures about the data. For distributions in which the mean is the better measure of center, variation is measured in terms of how far the data values deviate from the mean. Calculate how far each value is above or below the mean. Determining deviations from the mean is the first step to build a measure of variation based on the spread to either side of the center.

Averaging the absolute values of the deviations leads to a measure of variation that is used to describe the spread of data distribution and to compare distributions. This measure is called the mean absolute deviation, or MAD. Average the absolute values of the deviations from mean to determine MAD. Range (the difference between the minimum and maximum values in a data set) and interquartile range can be used as a measure of comparative variability.

A preview of each game in the learning objective is found below.

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